Solid stop gives Martin Bud win

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The Bud Shootout is NASCAR's fastest race, a 25-lap dash by the pole winners from the previous season.

And yet Sunday's 21st edition was won on the one piece of track where drivers are restricted to 55 mph.

Mark Martin had a great stop on pit road, and Jeff Gordon had a disastrous one. That proved to be the difference, as Martin won his first stock car race at Daytona International Speedway.

''The pit stop was crucial, although we did make some fairly lucky moves to get through the pack and end up where we were,'' said Martin, who averaged 181.745 mph and collected $108,000 from a purse of $512,500.

The format in the non-points race required to drivers to make a two-tire pit stop between Laps 10 and 12. Martin was in third place when he went into the pits on Lap 10, but he emerged in first because of good work by his Roush Racing crew.

He led the final 16 laps in the No. 6 Ford and beat Ken Schrader's Chevy by .215 seconds.

Gordon, a two-time Shootout winner, led the race going into the pits. But he overshot his pit stall and couldn't get his Chevy backed up.

Because the front of Gordon's car stayed over the white line that divides the pit stalls, NASCAR officials were forced to hold Gordon for a one-lap penalty. The two-time defending Winston Cup champion then withdrew from the race.

Gordon blamed only himself.

''I just carried a little too much speed to pit road, and then I overheated the brakes trying to get it slowed down and just couldn't get it slowed down,'' he said.

''I don't overshoot (the pit) very often, so it's something we're not always prepared for. I was trying to get the thing into reverse. I blew reverse (gear) trying to get it backed up.''

Martin started 13th in the 15-car field and worked his way up to fifth in the first eight laps. He then passed two more cars before coming down pit road at the end of the ninth lap.

Despite his considerable success in NASCAR, Martin's only wins at Daytona had come in the Rolex 24 road race. He was part of a team of drivers that took first place in the GT1 class in the Rolex race in 1989, '91, '92 and '95.

''I haven't lost any sleep over the fact I hadn't won here before,'' said Martin, who has lived in Daytona Beach since 1994. ''I hope we win the Daytona 500 (next Sunday), but I believe if you give your very best effort then you accept the results, whatever they are.

''I try not to get too overwhelmed if things go well and try not to get too eaten up if things don't go as they should.''

About winning the race on pit road, Martin said, ''Well, that's a product of restrictor-plate racing. If you have a reasonably good car and you're out in front, you're in good shape.''

Four drivers led at least a lap before Gordon went to the front on Lap 9. Kenny Irwin led the opening lap, Rick Mast laps 2 through 6, Schrader lap 7 and Mast lap 8.

Bobby Labonte finished third in a Pontiac, Mike Skinner fourth in a Chevy and Jeremy Mayfield fifth in a Ford.

Rusty Wallace was supposed to start on the pole, but he was sent to the rear of the field after missing the driver introductions. He finished seventh.

The Shootout was known as the Busch Clash for 19 years before changing names in 1997 as part of a marketing strategy by Anheuser-Busch. The format also was altered to include a 25-lap qualifying race made up of the previous season's fastest second-round qualifiers.

Skinner won that race Sunday, driving his Richard Childress-owned No. 31 Chevy to a .146-second victory over Robert Pressley.